The still young year 2019 is already in full swing and has the potential to become one of the most exciting years ever in e-commerce. The reason for this will be the technological changes made in 2017 and 2018. The CES 2019 in Las Vegas alone has shown how fast new touchpoints can suddenly emerge for e-commerce, which are mostly based on artificial intelligence technology (e.g. speech recognition). 

But also new technologies for classic frontends are on the advance thanks to Google, Mozilla, Microsoft and meanwhile also Apple. This refers to the Progressive Web Apps, which offer completely new possibilities, such as push notifications for websites. 

More than 2 years ago we at Pixup Media were able to see where e-commerce is heading from a technological point of view. As a result, we have built up many competences (e.g. in the field of artificial intelligence) in the background, which we will now focus fully on starting this year.

Starting in 2019, every project implemented by Pixup Media will use a Vue.js-based frontend as its PWA. Functions based on artificial intelligence will also find their way into every e-commerce system!

Shopify Plus, Shopware and Spryker

With the official entry of Shopify into the German market in 2018, the right size has been added. The decision to also implement projects based on Shopify Plus from 2019 was not difficult for us. A SaaS system focused on enterprise companies is implemented faster than any other system and is therefore now the entry system for enterprise projects at Pixup Media.

Since January 2019 Pixup Media is also an official Spryker Partner. The ever-increasing individual requirements in the enterprise segment can be optimally implemented due to Spryker's modular structure. The very intensive cooperation is further enhanced by the fact that the Pixup and Spryker HQ are just 100 metres apart as the crow flies in the heart of Berlin.

Despite the 2 new e-commerce systems we do not forget where we come from. The implementation on the basis of shopware will also be significantly intensified. Unfortunately we can't say much at the moment, except that the e-commerce world will look to Duisburg on 23.05.2019!

With Shopify Plus we offer a great entry-level system for ultra-fast conversions! With Shopware we offer a standardized system with extensive individualization possibilities! Thanks to Spryker, we can offer implementations where there are no limits in terms of individuality!

From 2019 Pixup Media offers the perfect solution for every application in the enterprise segment!

Progressive Web Apps based on Vue.js

The times of the Responsive Website are coming to an end! Native apps are also becoming more and more superfluous in e-commerce! The reason for this is the progress of the so-called Progressive Web Apps (PWA), which technologically represent a symbiosis of web and app. The best of both worlds is offered!

Many advantages compared to the classic responsive website result from the use of a PWA based on Vue.js:

• Ultra-fast charging times of < 0.3 seconds
  
• Save to homescreen
• App Feeling
• Push notifications
• Offline-functionalities
• Less dependency on the shop system thanks to "API-First"

In our opinion, Vue.js is the most flexible front-end JavaScript framework. Javascript is not executed on the server, but in the client (i.e. browser), unlike PHP (which is used in the form of Twig or Smarty on regular responsive websites). Everything that is to be dynamically delivered by the shop is provided by the frontend API.

We at Pixup Media see in the great efforts of Google, Mozilla, Microsoft and in parts of Apple in the spread of PWA technology a huge opportunity for online merchants!

Therefore all frontends at Pixup Media will be implemented on the basis of Vue.js in the form of a PWA!

AI as an integral part of every e-commerce project

At the end of 2016 we at Pixup Media started to deal with the topic of chatbots. We had to learn relatively quickly that rule-based systems reach their limits far too quickly and that only self-learning systems have a future. From this realization in early 2017, Pixup Media began building Machine Learning (a form of artificial intelligence) competencies. Meanwhile, the Machine Learning Team includes 5 permanent developers who work exclusively on AI-based solutions for e-commerce.

In addition to the new frontend technology (PWA), AI applications represent the highest priority at Pixup Media. Just in 2018, we conducted dozens of field trials with various solutions, all of which have now flowed into a fixed AI product portfolio. The most obvious product is of course the recommendation engine for personalizing the entire customer journey and the chatbot technology for connecting many different new touchpoints via text or voice.

These are our AI based services at the start of 2019:

• Recommendation Engine
• Chatbots
• Shopsearch
• Translations
• Push notifications
• Image recognition

Enterprise focused brands and retailers need individual solutions. Therefore we do not offer our solutions as standardized products. All developments are designed to be as individual as possible, which can be scaled at any time with the e-commerce system.

We at Pixup Media firmly believe that the use of perfectly tuned functions based on artificial intelligence is a game changer and therefore a competitive advantage.

As a result, AI functions will now be an integral part of every Pixup Media project!

Summary

At Pixup Media, we have always been driven by the desire to implement great and unique e-commerce projects. However, the last 2 years were responsible for building the necessary competence with the right team to be able to offer much more innovative solutions for brands and dealers. The first milestone has now been reached by officially presenting our innovations.

However, one can say so much that this has not been all yet! Stay tuned…